The One That Got Away
by thekawaiifangirl
Summary: He's my best friend, forever and always. And even though he's well out of my reach now, I'll still always be there for him. Niall Horan/OC.
1. Chapter 1

The sun shone brightly against the clear blue sky. The breeze blew softly, making the entire day a very pleasurable one. Down below, in a green meadow, the sound of two young children laughing could be heard.

"I'm gonna get you Liz!" a young boy yelled,

"Come and try!" the girl laughed.

The young boy sped up his pace, managing to catch up to the girl and tackling her to the ground. They lay next to each other, laughing and breathless. After a few moments, they stared up at the bright sky, enjoying the other's company.

Niall Horan, seven years old, a pure Irish lad with pale blonde strings for a head, pale blue for a gaze, and missing teeth for a smile, took the hand of his best friend, Elizabeth Johnson, six years old, with long brown hair and dark eyes, in his own hand.

Elizabeth was a tad startled, by the gesture, but eventually warmed up to it. They've been best friends, for what seems like their entire lives. Though it couldn't be true, because Elizabeth had moved to Mullingar, Ireland from Paris when she only a year old. Their parents had met at work and introduced the two children to each other. Immediately, they took a liking to each other. They spent whatever spare time they had together. There was nothing they didn't know about the other. Every secret was kept between the two of them, and every piece of news, no matter how big or small.

The other children at school always made fun of them being so close. They would tease them as being in love. Of course, Niall was always quick on defending his best friend,

"We are not in love okay! We're just really good friends! What's wrong with that?"

It seemed like the thought of the two best friends ever being in love was a taboo subject. But they were too young to understand the concept of love. Even as they lay in the grass, hand in hand, smiling towards the sun.

"Hey, Liz," Niall said softly, to the girl next to him,

"Yeah, Niall?" Niall then sat up; Elizabeth did the same. Their hold didn't break. He looked directly into her eyes and said confidently,

"I'm gonna make a really big promise, okay?" Elizabeth nodded, "We're gonna always be friends. No matter what happens, even if we grow up and get too old, we will always be best friends. I swear on my heart."

Elizabeth stared at him, looking for something in his eyes that might say he's joking, but his eyes had that look of hard resolve, which she knew could never falter. She smiled brightly and hugged him,

"Yes, Niall, I promise too. We'll always be best friends." He pulled away and gave her a toothless grin and she grinned back. Then they stood up again and ran again through the meadow.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed/favorited/alerted this story! It means a lot to me. I usually don't write 1D fics, but I thought I'd give it a try. XD I hope you enjoy this next chapter! ^-^**

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_-time skip 9 years later-_

Elizabeth sat in her bedroom, writing in her daily journal and listening to her iPod.

"June 17th," she began, "I've heard that there's going to be auditions for the X-Factor in Dublin next month! I was thinking of telling Niall, since it's always been his dream to be a singer, and he's really good too! And imagine if he actually won? It'd be the most awesome thing in the world!" she grinned to herself. It would definitely be a great thing if her best friend, Niall Horan, won the X-Factor.

Niall's dream of being a singer began when he was very young. At school recitals, he would bust out his guitar and do a few covers. Sometimes when the two best friends sought to get away in the green meadow, Niall would bring along his guitar and play for Elizabeth. It always brought her joy to hear him sing. He had the voice of an angel and it seemed like the whole world stopped just to hear him sing.

Her thoughts were promptly cut off by the sound of her phone ringing. She looked at the caller ID and smiled when she saw the name,

"Hey." She said,

"Hey, Liz." The familiar voice of Niall said on the other line,

"What's up?"

"I have something to tell you. Will you meet me in the usual spot in like half an hour?" Niall said. Elizabeth felt her heartstrings pull,

"Yeah, sure, see you then." She replied, and then disconnected the call. She quickly closed her notebook and grabbed her purse. She ran at the door mumbling a quick goodbye to her mother and got on her bike. She pedaled all the way down the dirt road, passing by cars and trucks driving into the town of Mullingar. She kept pedaling until she saw the big oak tree that was pushed over by a truck accident several years back. It was the signal point that showed her beloved green meadow was just a few feet away. She parked her bike underneath some bushes and ran off into the woods.

She saw the sunlight shining in a clearing ahead, and ran ahead. The woods opened up into a vast plain that was green all around, with a few other colorful flowers and plants. But Elizabeth didn't care about the natural beauty of her beloved meadow. Sitting in the middle, picking at a sunflower, was a familiar head of blonde. She smiled and hurried up to him.

As she approached, he looked up and gave her a smile. She sat next to him and the two enjoyed a companionable silence. After a few moments, Niall spoke up,

"So, I'm sure you heard about the X-Factor auditions?" Elizabeth snapped her head up. Was he going to do it?

"Yeah, I did hear. What of it? Are you going to do it?" she asked,

"I was thinking of it. I wanted your opinion before I asked my parents." Elizabeth tried her best to hide her elation. He was actually thinking of trying it!

"Yes! Absolutely! You'd be stupid not to. You're so talented, I'm sure they'd definitely accept you!" she grinned at him. He grinned back at her,

"You really think so?"

"I know so!" she exclaimed. Niall laughed, then pulled out his guitar that was behind him,

"Okay, then what song should I do?"

"Uh…I don't know." Elizabeth said honestly. Niall laughed at her, and she laughed too.

"Well how about we just experiment with a few? We'll come up with a good one."

"We?"

"Yeah, you have to help me, since you're going to support me, right?" he gave her a crooked smile. She felt her stomach fluttering and smiled back at him,

"Well then, we'd better get to work." She said smiling. He smiled back at her and they spent the rest of the day trying out different songs to use.


	3. Chapter 3

**I'M REALLY SORRY FOR THE LATE UPDATE OTL I really don't have an excuse, so feel free to pelt me with whatever you have. Thank you all to whoever reviewed, favorited/alerted. It really made me feel like I should update for you guys. So I hope you enjoy! (hopefully next update won't be too long ^-^)**

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"Congratulations One Direction! You've made it into the X-Factor! We look forward to seeing you in the competition." Niall had made it into the X-Factor and gone through the boot camp process. However, he didn't make the cut. Until, the judges decided to put him and four other boys into a band. He met the boys during boot camp. Liam Payne, 16 from Wolverhampton. Harry Styles, 16 from Cheshire, Zayn Malik, 17 from Bradford, and Louis Tomlinson, 18 from Doncaster. They came up with the name "One Direction" for the band and made it into the competition.

The boys erupted into fits of joy. Tears streamed down their faces and they embraced tightly. They thanked the judges a million times. The boys ran out the studio to greet their family members and fellow X-Factor contestants. Elizabeth was waiting with Niall's parents. Niall hugged her so hard that he lifted her off her feet.

"Thank you, Liz."  
"What for? I haven't done a thing."  
"You helped me greatly. You chose my audition song and always supported me. I couldn't have done it without you." he smiled at her, his eyes sparkling. Liz felt butterflies in her stomach.

"More like we couldn't have done it without you." a voice said behind her. She looked to see Liam, Harry, Zayn, and Louis smiling with the same brightness to her. Elizabeth felt her cheeks flare.  
"I told them all about you, Liz. They were really excited to meet you." Niall said, causing Elizabeth's cheeks to burn even more.

"Oh, well, uh, it was no problem, really..." she started,  
"Of course it was. We're all very thankful to you, Elizabeth." Harry said,  
"You're part of the reason why we're One Direction now." Louis added. She blushed even further, not even daring to meet any of the boys in the eyes. They laughed together and invited Liz to dinner, since they wouldn't be able to meet afterwards. She agreed and set off with her best friend, and new friends. She felt so lucky to be accepted into Niall's new world. After all, he is _her_ world.


	4. Chapter 4

_1 year later._

After placing 3rd in the X-Factor competition, One Direction went on to be signed under Sony Music label. They recorded their first single and were now currently recording their first album. To promote their new single, they've been going on shows around the UK and even planning on making a trip around Europe as well. With their career taking flight, their popularity has escalated as well. Not a single day goes by that they aren't bombarded with screaming fans.

However, despite all the excitement, Niall and Liz' relationship never waned. They text each other nonstop and even took the time for an occasional phone call. Liz has even become closer with the other boys, especially Liam. It seemed Niall really would keep his promise. It made her so happy to see Niall living his dream. However, it was also sad, not being able to see him as often anymore. Even their old hideout was so lonely without Niall.

Liz has found herself thinking about Niall a lot. She'd get caught daydreaming during class, and has even had to serve detention because of it. They're always texting, even during school. That's probably why as Liz was walking down the deserted hallway after school, she didn't notice the group of preps approaching in her direction.

"Look, it's the day sleeper." One of them jeered. This quickly shot Liz out of her reverie.

"Yeah, the one who's always texting." Another one of them said,

"And I thought we were bad." The last one added. Liz simply ignored them and walked past, but not before the first girl, a tall ginger with freckles spotting her face and arms, stuck out a high-heeled foot causing Liz to faceplant against the cold tile. The girls laughed at her. Trying to maintain her dignity, Liz quickly stood up and brushed herself off. The second girl, a platinum blonde, crossed in front of her path and snatched Liz' phone out her grasp. Quickly scanning over the text messages, she narrowed her eyes at the name.

"Who's Niall?"

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**ENTER CLIFFY . Sorry guys, i was writing this on my phone, and it died -_-' But i'll have the next chapter up soon, so i won't leave you hanging for too long c; remember to review! :D**


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